Adelphi University Center for Sports and Performing Arts
Garden City, New York

The Adelphi University Center for Sports and Performing Arts is a landmark facility that unites two core aspects of campus life—physical wellness and creative expression—within a cohesive architectural framework. Designed to serve both the athletic and artistic communities on campus, the project enhances the university’s commitment to holistic student development.

The Center for Recreation and Sports (CRS), completed in 2008, spans approximately 76,000 square feet and includes a broad range of fitness and wellness amenities. A full-service fitness center, indoor swimming pool, and flexible movement studio support personal training, group classes, and aquatic programs. Above the gymnasium, a three-lane elevated walking and jogging track loops the interior perimeter, measuring approximately one-tenth of a mile and offering year-round access regardless of weather conditions.

The main gymnasium is designed as a highly adaptable space, with three regulation-sized courts that accommodate basketball, volleyball, and badminton. The open-span structural system allows for unobstructed sightlines and easy reconfiguration, making the facility suitable for both intramural sports and university-level competition. Locker rooms, staff offices, and multipurpose rooms round out the athletic program, supporting daily student use as well as university and community events.

Directly adjacent, the Performing Arts Center creates a vibrant academic and cultural hub for Adelphi’s Departments of Theatre, Music, and Dance. The facility features a variety of rehearsal studios, practice rooms, and performance venues tailored to the specific acoustic and spatial requirements of each discipline. Concert halls, black box theaters, and stage production spaces are all designed to foster a professional-level experience for student performers, while providing the campus and broader community with a premier destination for live performance.

Together, the Center for Sports and Performing Arts plays a central role in campus life, offering spaces for movement, creativity, collaboration, and wellness. The architecture emphasizes openness and connectivity, using transparency and circulation strategies to reinforce the shared purpose of the two wings—bringing students together across disciplines in a space that celebrates both physical vitality and artistic pursuit.